Year 8 History trips

On Tuesday and Wednesday of the final week of term, all of Year 8 took part in a ‘humanities extravaganza’ involving two exciting day trips to central London. The year group visited both the Natural History Museum and the Tower of London across two days, led by the Geography and History departments. Travelling by tube, the students spent the day exploring places of great cultural significance, which brought to life the topics - such as the reformation - they have studied this year in the classroom.

At the Tower of London the students explored the medieval castle which overlooks the river Thames. Highlights included visits to the Jewel House which has been home to the crown jewels since the 1600s. Students really enjoyed walking in the footsteps of William the Conqueror, in the one thousand year old White Tower which has a fascinating exhibit, showing the armour worn by several monarchs including Henry VIII. Inside the ‘Bloody Tower’ students saw where heretical prisoners were kept during the reigns of Elizabeth I, featuring well preserved graffiti from former inmates of the 16th Century.

For part of the day, an expert guide took our students on a tour and told some of the Tower’s most famous stories, including tales of how prisoners managed to plan an escape using invisible ink from the juice of an orange and a piece of string. Leiliana said, “my favourite part was seeing the crown jewels and the paintings.” Danny added, “I enjoyed the workshop about the prisoners in the tower because they had interesting stories to tell.” The students behaved impeccably, asked pertinent questions throughout the day - doing the school proud.